The Mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto: The maybe inventor of Bitcoin

It’s rare to find a person who hasn’t heard of this cryptocurrency payment system, which is based on blockchain technology, but very little is known about Satoshi Nakamoto, the individual who published the Bitcoin protocol, titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, in 2008.

The document outlined the details of a cryptocurrency payment system that would allow individuals to send and receive payments anonymously – without involving financial institutions.

Bitcoin uses computers all over the world to maintain a blockchain, and computers that participate are compensated with Bitcoins.

Nakamoto released the first version of the Bitcoin software client in 2009, but during that next year, he withdrew from the fintech scene.

The mystery surrounding this elusive individual is perhaps one of the most interesting things about Nakamoto. There is no personal information out there about Nakamoto, and there is even some debate about whether the name is really a pseudonym for one or several people. While over the years, people have attempted to learn the identity of Nakamoto through in-depth analysis of language used published works, individuals have always denied being the inventor of Bitcoin.

Tracey Tong

Tracey Tong is an award-winning journalist with over 15 years in newspapers and communications. She is a former managing editor at Metro News and has contributed stories on business, politics, technology, science, healthcare and the arts to dozens of publications all over North America. The Burlington native currently makes her home in Ottawa. Find her on Twitter @TraceyTong